News and Updates from Serving California

It is a real joy for me to announce that Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest outreach to prisoners, former prisoners, and their families, and a leading advocate for criminal justice reform, has awarded the 2017 Charles Colson Legacy of Hope Award to B. Wayne Hughes, Jr. The award ceremony was this month. It was an incredible evening and experience to witness and hear the testimonies of ex-offenders whose lives have been transformed because of Mr. Hughes, Jr’s. generosity and commitment.

As most of you know, Wayne is the founder of Serving California and is richly deserving of such acknowledgment. I don’t think I could say it any better than the CEO of Prison Fellowship:

“B. Wayne Hughes, Jr. has given an incredible amount of his time and resources so that incarcerated men and women are given the opportunities to have access to programs of transformation, leading to a productive and holistic life,” said James Ackerman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Prison Fellowship. “Wayne has invested faithfully and generously in the restoration of men and women, he’s helping thousands in California and beyond to lead lives of purpose and productivity inside and outside of prison.”

Serving California proudly sponsored the Victim's Rights Symposium presented by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Bureau of Victim Services on April 12, 2018. The symposium is an annual event during National Crime Victim's Rights Week and this year's theme was Expand the Circle: Reach All Victims. This emphasizes the importance of inclusion in victim services.

The theme addresses how the crime victims field can better ensure that every crime victim has access to services and support and how professionals, organizations, and communities can work in tandem to reach all victims. More information about the week's events can be found here.

Who We Are

The Marjaree Mason Center (MMC) was founded by the YWCA in 1979 following the death of Marjaree Mason. Marjaree was a successful, loved woman about to graduate from Fresno State at the time her life was tragically taken by her ex-boyfriend. Her death galvanized the Fresno community into taking action to ensure no one would suffer the same fate. For over 40 years, the Center has served as Fresno County’s only dedicated provider of domestic violence shelter and support services, including education for victims and youth. At MMC, we support and empower adults and their children affected by domestic violence while also striving to prevent and end the cycle of abuse through education and advocacy. We hope that one day our services are no longer necessary in our community.

What We Do

Throughout our history, we have grown in our capabilities to provide a wide range of services to meet the complex needs of victims of abuse in our community at little to no cost. These services include: emergency shelter, transitional housing, assistance with permanent housing, legal assistance, group and individual counseling, 24-hour hotline response and crisis intake, safety planning, human trafficking services, children’s services, and education and training available to both victims and the public at large. Over 5,700 adults and children received services from MMC in the last fiscal year alone.

In an effort to end domestic violence in our community, we also provide services to those who have committed acts of violence to help them from committing acts again and encourage positive parenting and strong families. These services include a 52-week batterer’s intervention program, anger management classes, and parenting programs.

Additionally, the Center’s KNOW MORE Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program works with over 15 high schools and 14 middle schools in Fresno County to train teens to become peer educators and teach fellow students about healthy and unhealthy relationships in hopes of creating a domestic violence-free future.

Jessica’s Story

Jessica was 16 years old when she started dating her first serious boyfriend. He was six years older than her. Her world was turned upside down when she discovered he cheated on her, and she tried to break up with him. He immediately grabbed her and strangled her—and she was scared. “I don’t know why I didn’t leave then. The abuse only continued to progress and get worse,” said Jessica.

In her next relationship, she thought she found stability. She had three children with this partner and was with him for 11 years. But behind closed doors, it was more of the same abuse—physical and verbal, in addition to ongoing infidelity. After they separated, Jessica found a man she thought she could trust. But that didn’t mean she was safe. He was just as abusive as her previous two partners, but because he was loyal to her and didn’t cheat on her, she felt preserving the relationship was worth enduring the abuse.

The weight of the constant abuse began to take its toll on Jessica. She started harming herself and attempted suicide three times. In 2009, she came to the Marjaree Mason Center. “If I’m being honest, I only came to MMC because I wanted to lift the restraining order I had against him so we could be together,” said Jessica, “but what I learned in those counseling sessions truly opened my eyes. I finally said enough was enough.”

In her group counseling sessions at MMC, Jessica learned about domestic violence and just how prevalent it is. She learned the statistics that show half of the girls whose mothers are abused will become involved with abusive men and that young boys who witness DV in the home are six times as likely to become violent offenders. She realized that she was one of those statistics: she witnessed her mother being abused by her boyfriend as a child.

Her last abusive boyfriend even went so far as to run her over in his car—which her son witnessed and still remembers to this day. She decided she didn’t want her son or her daughters to be a part of those statistics she learned about in counseling at MMC, and she decided she deserved a future without abuse. Once she did leave, the difficult task of healing began. She faced crippling anxiety, stroke-like symptoms, and recurring nightmares.

But today, she’s in a better place—she’s currently engaged to a man who loves her and prioritizes their healthy relationship. She frequently talks with her children about what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like. She’s now willing to share her story “even if it only helps one person.” Jessica says the Marjaree Mason Center will always hold a special place in her heart because of all that she learned in those counseling sessions—and the freedom that gave her. We are honored to be a part of her journey.

Forgotten Children

The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.
-Bill Gates, Business @the Speed of Thought: Using a Digital Nervous System, 1999.

Many of Bill Gates’ predictions from decades ago have come to fruition, including that our global village spends a significant amount of its time as an online community. The internet’s ease of use blends perfectly with our society’s desire for convenience, approval, and instant gratification.

Perhaps unforeseen in 1999, with all of the great possibilities the internet would bring, was how our ‘town square’ would quickly become a virtual village full of graffiti and litter. Live stream sexual abuse, solicitation, voyeurism, illegal pornography, and harassment cases continue to be on the rise. The FBI and United Nations estimate 750,000 child predators are online at any given time of day. A $32-billion a year industry, human trafficking has surpassed the illegal sale of arms and soon will surpass the illegal sale of drugs. Both clients and traffickers in this industry target the vulnerable and poor in our population, using currency and manipulation to fuel their impulses. 70% of child sex trafficking victims will at some point be sold online, and prostitution increasingly is moving to online platforms.

How can our communities combat these technologically-facilitated abuses, and retain, restore and protect our innocent?

President/CEO of Forgotten Children, Tera Hilliard, is a subject matter expert, working in the fight against sexual exploitation. Hilliard and staff are in the trenches with survivors, healing the wounded and breaking the cycle of abuse through partnerships and community awareness.

“We are fighting an evil that is daunting, but our God is mighty and called us to join in the fight for the lives of countless victims, most of whom we will never see.”

What began in 2006 as a resource to bring hope to women being prostituted, Forgotten Children now operates at the local and state level with a hands-on approach, reaching out to women and children on the street, along with those involved in human trafficking or sex trades.

Through education, in-take, outreach, housing, and advocacy they continue to be diligent in sharing their offer of hope, in both the virtual and physical space.

Forgotten Children’s Drop-In Center is located near hourly motels on Lynwood’s Long Beach Boulevard and assists a stream of women in ‘the life’ seeking rest from walking the street; offering them a hot meal, counseling, case management, support and Intervention programs.

A victim involved in human trafficking has a life-expectancy of, on average, less than seven years. Death stems from drug use or alcohol addiction, or potential violent acts at the hands of a client or pimp. This harrowing statistic adds extreme urgency to the need for intervention to assist these victims into rehabilitation.

Rachel’s House of Healing in San Bernardino County provides a secure and safe home for residents who have made the choice to leave ‘the life’ and begin the lengthy process of recovering. Housing 100 women since its founding in 2010, their holistic approach of servicing the mind, body and spirit includes equine therapy, music and art lessons, exercise and gardening. The recent launch of Rachel’s Sew & Sow incorporates gardening skills into a social enterprise project, where women grow and create items for purchase while growing in self-respect and independence, gaining healing through artistic expression. Rachel’s Sew & Sow is part of Forgotten Children’s employment development program, which provides the tools residents need to live successful and thriving lives.

Forgotten Children also provides The Road to Freedom, an 8-week reentry diversion program to inmates at Century Regional Detention Facility, an all-female jail in Lynwood. This course is tailor-made for those who have experienced trauma from sexual assault, and who are serving time related to prostitution or trafficking. Teams of trained volunteers and staff members work closely with inmates in a classroom setting, helping them identify behaviors which caused them to become victims, and empowering change in their lives going forward.

The message of hope will continue to spread as Forgotten Children’s work impacts lives, but there is much more to be done. You can start helping combat human trafficking in your online and physical communities by visiting http://www.forgottenchildreninc.org for further information.

SERVING CALIFORNIA NEWS